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What Are Horse Blood Marks?

A blood mark is a type of marking found only on flea bitten gray horses. The
area on the horse that constitutes the blood mark is not gray like the rest of
the horse: Instead, it is some other color. Commonly, the blood mark areas are red (chestnut) which gives the marking its name.

While blood marks can and do appear anywhere on a
horse's body they are perhaps best known for appearing on the shoulder
area, and are therefore sometimes also called "bloody shoulder marks." They can
be called a "blood mark" or a "bloody shoulder mark" no
matter where they are located. A blood mark on a horse is usually considered to
be somewhere between unusual and rare.

Below: A flea bitten gray horse with blood marks on
the neck and shoulder.

"......An extremely rare occurrence is in Fig. 105, which
shows patches of red color growing into the coat of a grey horse. These
patches are called blood marks and can become progressively larger,
resulting in a very aged grey horse that appears uniformly red."

Below: A blood mark on the side and belly of a gray
horse.

Horse Blood Marks and The Color Gray

Blood marks are unique to flea bitten gray horses. If you need a refresher on
gray horse coloring here is a quick overview:

A gray horse has colored body hairs that are mixed in with white
hairs.

Most commonly, the colored body hairs are black so that when they
are mixed with the white hairs the horse displays a characteristic gray
color.

As a gray horse ages the colored hairs lose their pigmentation and the horse
fades to a lighter and lighter gray color. Ultimately, the horse may appear to
be white.

Flea bitten grays have dark specks scattered over a lighter base color
of white. This is opposed to dapple grays which have rings of gray
throughout the coat; and steel grays which are a smooth blend of dark hairs
and light hairs.

The blood mark areas on a horse are not gray. As stated above they are
some other color, most commonly red (chestnut).

Blood Marks On Horses and "Somatic Mutations"

To better understand blood marks on horses it's handy to know they are a "somatic
mutation." What is a somatic mutation?

In mammals, a somatic cell is a cell that makes up the components of an animal's body (for example: skin, bones, blood, and more). A somatic
cell is not responsible for reproduction (those kinds of cells are called
"germ" cells).

A mutation is a process that changes the DNA sequence of a gene. Mutations are
considered to be natural, but not the norm. Some mutations are harmful while others are not.

Somatic mutations, then, are mutations in the cells that make up the
components of the body but do not include cells that can reproduce (germ cells). Somatic mutations are acquired at some point
after conception, anywhere from in the womb to years after birth. They cannot be passed on to the next
generation. Therefore, a horse with a blood mark may or may not produce progeny with a
blood mark, but it is a characteristic that cannot be bred for.

Blood Marks and the Bedouin Mare

Blood marks, although an unusual marking on any horse, are traditionally
associated with the Arabian breed. The breed originated in the great,
inhospitable deserts of the Middle East and have long been prized by many
different people, including the Bedouins who have made their lives in these
deserts for centuries.

There is a legend about an Arabian mare owned by a Bedouin chieftain that
describes how the very first blood mark came about. The following version is
from Arabian Horse World magazine.

The Legend of the Bloody Shouldered MareAs seen in the September, 1982 edition of Arabian
Horse World magazine.

Long ago on the sands of a great desert lived a
Bedouin chieftain by the name of Ahmed and his tribe. In the tents of Ahmed
was his most prized possession, a beautiful grey mare who was renowned
throughout the desert as the fleetest and most beautiful horse in the world.
Many people coveted the mare, and kings and chieftains had tried to acquire
her, but Ahmed could not be persuaded to part with his beloved mare.

Ahmed decided to breed his mare, and searched the desert for a suitable
mate for her. After a time, the mare was bred to the premier stallion in the
Sultan's stable. Months went by and the time for the mare to foal grew near.

Riding across the desert one day, several miles from his tents, Ahmed was
seen by a group of robber Bedouins. Fearing that he would lose his beloved
mare as well as his life, Ahmed turned and raced toward his tents, knowing
in his heart that the mare, heavy in foal, could never out-distance the
bandits. The mare seemed to realize that she was running for her master's
life, and slowly, very slowly, she began to gain ground on her pursuers.
Shots rang out and bullets peppered the sand around them as the distance
gradually widened.

They were almost out of rifle range when at last a shot rang out. A
bullet pierced Ahmed's heart, and he fell forward over the neck of his
beloved mare. The mare never slackened her stride, and carried her master
back to his tents on their final ride together.

Ahmed's people gathered around the mare and removed his lifeless body
from her back. Down one of her shoulders, his blood had dried a nasty brown
in the desert heat. There the mark remained, for no one could remove it.

That night in the tent of her dead master, the mare foaled. The foal was
acclaimed by all as a perfect specimen of the Arabian breed, and on his
shoulder was the same rusty red mark that his dam bore.

And so it came to pass that every great horse descended from that mare
carried the mark of the bloody shoulder, and it was a thing greatly prized
in the desert.

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